


Getting the Best of the Night

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: When We're Together [11]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 01:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2410025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The last time a woman asked me that I was served with divorce papers.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting the Best of the Night

**Author's Note:**

> 2/18/2011 Happy birthday to the superbly awesome Jayne Atkinson, who makes me love this character with the itty bit that she’s given in the few episodes she’s appeared in. I asked [](http://kosmickway.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://kosmickway.livejournal.com/)**kosmickway** to give me a prompt so I could write something sweet for her birthday so she said **‘take any lyric from Steve Winwood’s The Finer Things’**. I took _and the lovers try till they get the best of the night_.

Dave approached the circle of chatting FBI agents. Deputy Director Kirk Douglas smiled, extending his hand.

“David Rossi, I have to admit I never thought I’d see you at one of these things again.”

The two men shook hands and hugged.

“Oh c'mon, Mr. Deputy Director, you never saw me here when I was supposed to be.”

Several people laughed. Kirk kept his jovial smile.

“Yeah, back in the day you were a fan of the once around. Some of us didn’t get that luxury.”

“I know. There is something to be said for not giving a damn.”

“Absolutely.”

Dave smiled at Kirk’s wife as he leaned to kiss her cheek.

“Marjorie Anne, you're still the most beautiful girl in the room.”

“Dave, you're still the smoothest talker.”

“I do what I can…thinking of having it patented. You look amazing.”

“Thank you.”

“We need to get together soon, Kirk. Do you still duck hunt?”

“I dream of it. Work keeps me so busy but I’d love to just spend a day with a rifle and a dog.”

“Mudgie will be glad to hear it. We’ll do that soon. I'm sorry to interrupt but I came to take the Section Chief off your hands.”

“Which one?” Kirk asked.

In addition to Erin Strauss standing in the circle were Katherine Cole from Crimes against Children and Dale Murphy from Counterterrorism.

“Erin.” Dave said, tentatively slipping his arm around her waist. “She promised me a dance and I figure since I can only bear another half hour of chatting and shaking hands before I run for the hills, I better take her up on it.”

“I don’t recall promising you anything of the sort, Agent Rossi.” She replied.

“Really? I could’ve sworn you said you wanted me to take you for a spin. Oh well, I could be losing my hearing in my old age.”

“You should be careful. The FBI does require a yearly physical for field work.”

“C'mon Erin, I love this song. I think you do too.”

“Not really.”

“Ouch.” Kirk said smirking.

“Erin…”

“Alright, I’ll have a dance, Agent Rossi.” She put on a smile.

“Good, because I was preparing to beg and that wouldn’t have been pretty for any of the parties involved. Excuse us.”

“Enjoy your dance.” Marjorie said.

“I will.”

Dave practically swept Erin onto the dance floor. The band was passable for tonight’s shindig; Dave didn’t even remember what they were all there for. They played a jazzy rendition of _You Belong to Me_. Erin slipped her arms around his neck…his arms were at home around her waist.

“Its going to be impossible you know.” He whispered.

“What's that?”

“Not alerting everyone within a 50 foot radius that we’re crazy about each other.”

“Well you're crazy,” She replied. “Surely it’s well-documented by now.”

“I have those papers somewhere.”

Erin suppressed her laughter. She gently stroked the nape of his neck and Dave tightened his grip on her.

“I'm mad at you, you know.” Dave said, swaying with her to the music.

“Why?”

“Why? Today is a special day and here you are schmoozing and making nice with the masses. You should be focused on yourself today.”

“It’s just another day, David.” Erin replied.

“That’s absolutely not true. It’s important and even if you don’t care, I do.”

“Its not that I don’t care. I just…” Erin sighed. “I have obligations and they have to be filled no matter what day of the week it is.”

“OK, I’ll concede that point. Luckily though I've made plans. When are you going to let me drag you out of here?”

“David…”

“Believe me when I tell you that it’s worth bailing early. I find the migraine excuse goes over well.”

“I don't know if I can do that.”

“Obligations.” He said.

Erin nodded.

“Just tell me that you want to go. Tell me that you want me to take you away.”

“Of course I do.”

“Then I’ll stick around and we’ll go together. We have plans for this very special evening that don’t involve mediocre champagne and dreadful conversation.”

“What did you do?” she asked.

“The last time a woman asked me that I was served with divorce papers.”

This time Erin couldn’t help herself and let out a laugh. She threw her hand up to cover her mouth; Dave pulled it away like he always did. He pulled the hand to his lips and kissed it, didn’t care who saw.

“Happy birthday Erin Strauss.”

“Thank you.”

***

“What did you do?” Erin asked again as they walked through the dim halls of the Arlington Planetarium escorted by the head of security.

“You'll see.”

He unlocked the door but didn’t open it.

“I can only give you ninety minutes, Dave. I go off shift in two and a half hours so that'll give me time to make you disappear without a trace.”

“Gotcha.” Dave handed him a $100 bill. “You're a good man, Lee. Give my love to Shannon and the boys.”

“You know I will. Happy birthday, ma'am.”

“Thank you so much.” Erin smiled.

“I need you to close your eyes, baby.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked you so sweetly.” Dave leaned to kiss her nose. “Close your eyes, Erin.”

“Alright.”

She closed her eyes and Dave stood behind her. He gently massaged her shoulders before bending to kiss one. She was wearing a dark blue long sleeve dress. The top was a sequined deep v-neck with a high belted waist and a satin A-line skirt. It brushed her calves and was accented by perfect 2” heels.

Erin pulled her hair up; she usually did for special occasions. Diamond drop earrings shone in her ears and her _E_ pendant necklace was around her neck. Simply put, she was beautiful. Dave always thought she was beautiful, even in pajamas. In full party-girl mode she was exquisite. He opened the door and they walked in. Dave closed it again, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips when they were in the dark.

“Open your eyes.” Dave whispered.

Erin did what he asked. She wanted to say something but all she could do was gasp. For a few moments, Erin Strauss was speechless. She took Dave’s hand in hers and squeezed it.

“Oh my God,” she said, looking at him. “David…”

“I’ll give you the whole world.” Dave waved his hand across the room. “One star at a time.”

“This is so beautiful. I...wow.”

“Did you think I actually forgot your birthday?” he asked.

“No, but…this is…”

Dave’s friend Lee cleaned out the room of many of its displays to set up a candlelit dinner for two. That wasn’t even the best part. The best part was they were having dinner under the stars. It was actually under the entire Milky Way. All nine planets, the moon, and every star in the sky shone around them.

“Do you like it?” Dave asked.

She looked at him, really looked at him. Erin threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately.

“It’s the most amazing thing ever. No one has ever done anything like this for me before, David.”

“Well the fun has only just begun. Come with me.”

Dave walked her over to the table and held out the chair. Ninety minutes wasn’t quite enough time but he was lucky to even have the place so he wasn’t going to look a gift hour and a half in the mouth.

***

_When I think about how much I'm loving you_  
No limitations, no set of regimented rules  
I'm amazed how much this love has touched my life  
And the commitment that we share is a welcome sacrifice  
This must be sweet fatal attraction  
My lifelong date with destiny  
Love this strong it just brings out the passion  
I never knew was here in me 

“I hate when you do this?” Erin whispered.

“What's that?”

“Sometimes you make it impossible not to adore you.”

They were dancing to Anita Baker playing from a boombox. It reminded her of that time he stood under her bedroom window playing Bryan Adams. Except this time she had no intention of calling the police and telling them to bring their tasers. This time she wanted to hold onto him and never let go. He’d fed her the most magnificent meal of grilled blackened chicken on a bed of angel hair pasta in a lemon butter sauce.

They drank a 2005 DuMol Chardonnay, which was perfect with its hint of lemon butter, honeysuckle, and brioche. Erin felt a bit heady after two glasses plus the champagne from the party, but it was a wonderful feeling. There was no dessert; Dave promised that he had something at home for her. Now they were dancing…her feet hardly touched the ground. This had to be a dream, it felt like a dream. That might be the wine talking.

“Look up, baby.”

Erin looked up and saw shooting stars flying all over the sky. It was an amazing sight, flying around Pluto, past Saturn, Jupiter, and across the entire universe.

“Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. Make a wish.”

“I wish for another 90 minutes.” She said hugging him close.

Erin wanted to hold back the tears even though they were joyful. She wasn’t the crying type but she was delightfully overwhelmed. Who did these types of things? It wasn’t as if David wasn’t a very busy man. Actually there was a high probability that he would be out of town tonight. Maybe he planned it so he wouldn’t be, she didn’t know. It was a Monday after all…maybe the BAU was taking a much-needed rest.

Still he was busy and this couldn’t have been simple or easy to plan. David Rossi planned it to the hilt. Everything was perfect and Erin wished she had the words for it. She didn’t and feared she never would. She had those silly tears though. When Dave saw them he wore the sweetest smile, gently wiping them away with his fingers.

“Not all tears are a sign of weakness.” He said, reading her mind.

“I know that.”

“Mmm hmm.” He pulled her close again. “I hope you're not too overwhelmed yet. There's one more thing before the night is over.”

“I don't know if I can take anymore.” She answered honestly.

“What if I said we can do it in our pajamas?”

“Then I would say yes please.”

***

Dave did a silly drum roll as he walked into his bedroom. Erin was sitting on his bed dressed in her flannel pajama pants with the stars and a tank top. Mudgie was sitting close by, seemed to be anticipating the event as much as she was. Dave sat down on the bed too, placing a covered silver platter in Erin’s lap.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Erin, happy birthday to you.”

He lifted the cover and lit the candle on the mini red velvet cake.

“Its time to make a wish now.” he said.

“I've made about a million tonight.” She replied.

“Let’s make it a million and one.”

Erin closed her eyes and then blew out the candle. Then she leaned in for a kiss. Dave smiled, pulling the candle out of the cake. He handed her a fork.

“Dig in.”

“You know red velvet is my favorite.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I got it at your favorite bakery too.”

“You got this from Potomac Pastries? I didn’t know they sold mini red velvet cakes.”

“Well they don’t exactly, but I think I was so cute and you were such a loyal customer that Claudia was willing to do me a favor. You better eat up, baby, Mudge is drooling.”

She looked at the retriever and sure enough his tongue was now hanging out of his mouth.

“He’s been so sweet tonight. Give him a little frosting.”

“He’s got you right where he wants you, you know.” Dave said. He ran a finger through the cream cheese frosting and gave it to the dog. Mudgie licked his finger clean.

Erin cut a little slice and told Dave to open up.

“The first piece goes to you for putting this all together. Tonight was amazing.”

“Mmm, this is delicious. You know what?”

“What?” Erin ate her cake.

“I think I'm just going to declare it right now. From this day forward February 18th will always be celebrated in the grandest style. I can't promise that I'm gonna be in town every year, this year we were lucky, but no matter what you will always have a special birthday.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Why not? What…you get Christmas. Everyone gets Christmas so it’s not exactly the same. Of course you also get Mother’s Day and that’s pretty special, but what else? It’s not like there’s a Section Chief Appreciation Day.”

“We need to get on the powers that be about that.” Erin grinned.

“Let me know how it goes.”

“OK.”

“Today is special and you cannot convince me otherwise. I'm always gonna let you know how adored you are. But you have to forgive me something.”

“What?” she asked.

“I didn’t get you a gift. I know that’s ridiculous but…”

“David, stop.” She put her hand on his chest. “You didn’t get me a gift, are you crazy? First of all, four days ago was Valentine’s Day. You bought me a beautiful watch. As if that wasn’t enough, there was pizza and beer and you made it through _Love, Actually_.”

“Well I don’t wanna brag…”

“And tonight you gave me the moon and the stars. I got the moon, the stars, and my favorite dessert from my favorite bakery. I got dancing and wine and Mudgie didn’t jump on me when I came in. Tonight was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

“You didn’t ask for anything. You never have to; I'm gonna give it to you anyway.”

“Stop.” She whispered, focusing on her cake again.

“No.” Dave kissed her nose.

Erin rolled her eyes and finished her birthday cake. It had been an amazing evening and she never saw any of it coming. A little part of her expected something for her birthday. Dave could play the cad but he was a romantic at heart. She thought flowers maybe, or a little gift.

But what he did blasted away anything she could’ve thought of. How could she thank him; show him how much it meant to her? And what was he saying when he said they would celebrate every year? Was he sure he wanted to be with her…wanted to make this a yearly ritual?

Erin wasn’t sure what to think but maybe it was time to stop thinking. Dave was leading Mudgie out of the room by the collar. He was closing the door and leaving his best friend on the other side. Erin smiled as he made his way back to the bed.

“Mudgie will get his revenge.” She couldn’t get it out without laughing.

“I know all his tricks…he can't take me down. I want to be alone with you.”

“Why?”

“Woman…”

Laughing again, Erin put the platter on the nightstand. She stood and wrapped her arms around him.

“I don’t know if I can ask for anything more, Dave.”

“Don’t ask me for a thing. In fact, we don’t even have to talk.” He kissed her nose. “I'm alright with that, baby.”

She turned around, pulled the blankets down, took both his hands and brought Dave into bed with her. He turned out the lamp as they got comfortable. He did well tonight even though he wouldn’t pat himself too hard on the back. There was still one more thing to accomplish before looking forward to the 19th. He’d given Erin the moon and the stars…now it was time to give her fireworks.

***

  



End file.
